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A Sweet Way to Retire...Shipleys Do-Nuts

When “that doughnut shoppe daddy loves” became available for purchase, the retired Maryland restaurateur and his wife couldn’t resist Starkville, doughnuts and a local grandbaby.
That was 15 years ago.
Today, under the watchful eye of Joe and Linda Kenny, Shipley’s Do-nuts of Starkville has become an institution, with some of the only handmade, hand cut doughnuts available in the area.
Joe and Linda Kenny, owners of the Starkville Shipley’s Do-Nuts, said it is the people that have made their 15 year “retirement” project so special.
“A lot of the customers from the early years are bringing their children in for doughnuts before school or on ball game weekends when they come in from out of town,” said Linda Kenny. “It has been a lot of fun seeing the different generations of customers we have come to know and love.”

Some of their younger customers come to see the electric train that circles the television.
Other customers love the variety of handmade, hand-cut doughnuts, made fresh throughout the day. Joe Kenny, of “Joe Knows Doughnuts” fame, said Shipley’s is one of the only doughnut shops still making doughnuts the old-fashioned way — by hand. There is no automation in the Shipley’s kitchen. They get to the kitchen at 3 a.m. on a typical day, and 1 a.m. on Mississippi State University football “Game Day.” It takes a while to make the wide variety of handmade doughnuts, but customers agree, it is worth the effort.
Humidity plays a huge role in how well the yeast rises on a particular day, so the morning bakers have to adjust for the variations to provide the consistently delicious doughnuts Starkville has come to expect from the local Shipley’s.
The most popular doughnuts are the traditional glazed and chocolate iced yeast doughnuts.
The blueberry cake doughnut is another very popular item. Linda Kenny said they are always in demand because they are moist and have a great flavor.
Linda Kenny said in the South, more people eat yeast doughnuts, and cake doughnuts (made without yeast) are more popular in the North.
The Kenny’s have taken the Shipley’s franchise and expanded the possibilities, by providing customers with a variety of high-quality organic coffees, and fresh-squeezed lemonade.
Linda Kenny said popular coffee varieties include Seattle’s Best, Colombian and hazelnut-flavored.
She said caramel-flavored coffee is extremely popular. They also serve a Christmas coffee year-round, because customers love it.
Monday is “Senior Day” and those embracing their senior status, receive a free cup of coffee with the purchase of their favorite doughnut.
Kenny said the doughnut shop is a place customers can enjoy their coffee and a doughnut while reading the paper or doing the crossword puzzle, or it can be a place friends gather to discuss the problems of the world. Linda Kenny said the eclectic mix of people provides a variety of conversation from the very intellectual to pure trivia.
Stop by and join the morning conversation over a doughnut and a cup of coffee, or pick up a dozen for the office at their location at the Southdale Shopping Center at 418 Highway 12 E, Starkville. Give them a call at 324-6003.